This week we had our annual Tu B’Shevat celebration. We find that certain holidays really help us elevate our communal connections in school, and on this holiday, we used the entire Hoffman building as our celebration space. In each room, the children had different opportunities to explore a Tu B’Shevat related activity. In our room, the children made fruit smoothies. The children could make either banana or berry mixed with sweet vanilla frozen yogurt. Our class then moved to room 22, where the children planted seeds and herbs in our garden. We can’t wait to watch them grow, and hopefully we will be able to do some tasting, too! In room 21, the children worked as a group to create large garden signs to be placed in our finished garden. Lastly, the children had a chance to see how paper is made from scratch and if they wanted, they could even make their own. We ended our celebration with music with Marcos and all of our Hoffman friends. It is so much more meaningful when we can come together to share the impact of like experiences. It is so clear that the children feel connected in this way.
Another exciting thing happening in room 23 is our exploration of loose parts. Some of the children have become very interested in our loose parts bins in the classroom, along with a bin of small animals. It all started with a box of loose parts that contained different sized tubes, ramps, spools, boxes, wood strips, cardboard cones and blocks. At first the building process was slow while the children were deciding which of the materials to use. Ryan: We need all these things. Bunny: The two big tubes. Jonah: How about these ones? These are big steps in the children’s play, as they learn to consider other children’s ideas and take in all the possibility that exists in a seemingly small conversation. They are experiencing collaboration and exercising critical thinking as a group, a skill we will continue to build on as they move through this process. Slowly, more children started to join the building process. As they were building, the children seemed to decide it was going to be a zoo. Ryan: Let’s make a zoo. Jonah: We need flamingos and giraffes. Bunny: And the foxes! Stella: I want the hippos and giraffes. Maija: I also need the flamingos. Ryan: And the rabbits and that’s it. The children continued this building for a couple of days, each day adding more parts. “A fence do they don’t get out.” “Maybe a staircase.” “A special house for the animals.” “Now we need a road to get to the zoo.” “And a parking lot of all the cars that come to the zoo.” We are hoping to continue to explore the zoo and its animals in many other ways over the next few weeks. Community Spot: · We are also happy to see that Shylee is ok after an injury at home. · Thank you to Tiffany and family for being here for Shabbat.
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